US President-elect George W Bush has asked CIA Director George Tenet to stay on the job for an undetermined period of time and Tenet agreed, a Bush spokesman has said. “The request came during the past couple of days,” Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer said on Tuesday, though he had no details on the conversation. Bush and tenet met last week when the president-elect was in Washington.
“Director Tenet has been asked to stay on the job for what will amount to an undetermined period of time.....,” Fleischer told reporters during a briefing adding Bush will decide at a later period exactly how long Tenet will stay. Several Democrats and Republicans have urged Bush to retain Tenet, a Democrat, in an effort to take the spy agency out of the political cycle. Bush's father, former US President George Bush, once headed the CIA and has called for a less-political approach.

A senior Bush adviser has said the president-elect wanted Tenet to stay aboard in the short term while the incoming national security team assesses US foreign policy needs and the CIA's role. He has been closely involved in Mid-East peace efforts, negotiating security arrangements between the Palestinians and Israelis. “The intelligence agency reacted to the announcement with one-sentence statement. The director is pleased to have an opportunity to continue to serve,” said CIA spokesman Bill Harlow.
Bureau Report